Best PlacesSilver Bow County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Silver Bow County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Silver Bow County ranks 1,257th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Silver Bow County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Silver Bow County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Silver Bow County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- BikingBetter than 95% of counties
- Short commute16.9 minutes each way, better than 91% of counties
Where Silver Bow County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,019 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Silver Bow County
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Silver Bow County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,735, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Silver Bow County's effective rate of 0.93%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Silver Bow County
Silver Bow County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Silver Bow County.
Who works in Silver Bow County, and how
Work in Silver Bow County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Silver Bow County
Silver Bow County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of counties and more parkland per resident than 98% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Silver Bow County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Silver Bow County growing, and who is moving in?
Silver Bow County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Missoula, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Silver Bow County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Silver Bow County, month by month
Silver Bow County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 19° | 6° |
| April | 54° | 38° | 24° |
| July | 85° | 66° | 45° |
| October | 58° | 41° | 27° |
Flying in and out of Silver Bow County
The nearest airport, Bert Mooney, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 247 miles away.
The best schools in and around Silver Bow County
Schools across Silver Bow County average a C+, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hillcrest SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Wise River SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Whitehall ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Whitehall 6-8C− · 28% proficient
- Ramsay Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Whitehall High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Butte High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Silver Bow County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Silver Bow County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Silver Bow County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Silver Bow County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Silver Bow County
Is Silver Bow County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Silver Bow County ranks 1,257th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and heat safety, and lowest on an overheated housing market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Silver Bow County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,798. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $65,735 median income, cost of living beats 43% of counties.
Is Silver Bow County safe?
Silver Bow County is safer than 22% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $610 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Silver Bow County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 6. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of counties.
Is Silver Bow County good for families?
Schools beat 45% of counties, crime safety beats 22%, and childcare runs $1,019 a month.
Compare Silver Bow County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Silver Bow County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Silver Bow County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Silver Bow County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Silver Bow County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Silver Bow County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Silver Bow County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Silver Bow County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Silver Bow County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.